Not Breaking: Smartphones win loyalty of our restless eyeballs

Yes it is as Kipp feared; we as a society are officially addicted to our smartphones and the connections they come with. It’s not that this is breaking news and while most of you will indignantly grunt at the repetitive nature of this topic, it is still something worth considering.

A new October survey by CNN, tapping into the mindset of the consumer electronic market, has revealed that the percentage of users who suffer from “disconnection anxiety” is alarmingly high. Almost half the respondents (international audience from 70 countries) agreed that they feel extremely uncomfortable if they are ever out of the reach of Wi-Fi, 3G or broadband.

On the plus side (yes we consider it a plus), 34 percent said they are perfectly happy to be offline and claim that they ‘cherish those times when they can’t be disturbed by calls, emails or messages’. Being the devil’s advocate that Kipp is though, we find it hard to swallow that the 34 percent were being completely honest with themselves or perhaps they simply wanted to go against the crowd.

Laptops are, yes let’s call them popular. Tablets are getting more popular by the day, especially with Samsung and Apple’s latest releases, but smartphones, they still own the largest chunk of loyalty from the global consumer or your average tech-geek.

Smartphones are favoured over tablets, laptops, portable music players, eReaders, digital cameras and handheld games consoles on flights, in business meetings, by the poolside on holiday and while watching TV at home.

“This survey shows the undeniable versatility of the Smartphone, used almost ubiquitously in any given situation; even in locations like the lounge room where entertainment screens compete simultaneously for eyeballs,” says Didier Mormesse Senior VP, Research, CNN International.

When you’re watching TV, sitting by the pool or having a drawn out meeting in the conference room, you are using your smartphone. In fact, smart phones are more commonly used by the pool side than portable music players, but who are we kidding, smart phones are also portable music players.

So there you have it, our eyeballs are being competed for and are constantly chasing one screen or another. Scared yet?